The Restoration of Simon Petrikov
by Pollardinator
Summary: After another of the Ice King's princess kidnaps ends with his quick defeat, Finn and Jake try to seek a way to help the lonely frozen monarch to rediscover his humanity. But with war brewing and the rise of an old foe, Finn needs to make a terrible choice. To save the land he is sworn to protect,or to help a lonely old man regain his life after he has lost so much.
1. Chapter 1- Is it Just You and Me?

"Simon!" Marceline screeched, her excited cry echoing across the devastated street.

Turning towards where the pale child sat, across the road by a collapsed car showroom, Simon Petrikov breathed a sigh of relief.

For a second he had felt his hand drifting to the cold metal of the crown at his hip, feeling every ounce of his being willing him not to touch it, whilst the voice in his head, the mad one that greeted his mind every time he wore the infernal golden artifact, still whispered in his ear to put it on. But, this time at least, he would have no need for its magic.

The small girl he had protected for so long, as her friend, companion and father figure, was sat on the cracked pavement, watching a tiny beetle scuttle across the concrete.

"Come see Simon!" she called again, her eyes wide with joy.

Grinning Simon walked over, marvelling at how, despite the apocalyptic devastation all around them, the crumbling city they lived in, this child could still laugh.

"What you found there Marcy?" he asked as he crouched down beside her, feeling his heavy pack dig into his sides slightly as he bent down to her level, Marceline still smiling.

"This little guy…" she said softly, pointing at the speck of black that was the beetle with a stick.

"I always heard only cockroaches would survive a nuclear war…" Simon said thoughtfully, peering through his cracked glasses at the insect as it skittered around.

"You always talk funny Simon." Marceline said with a giggle, and then poked it with the stick.

"What are you doing?"

"Just seeing if I can squish him…" the girl replied casually, lifting the stick up to squash the tiny beetle.

Then she felt a cold hand gently take hold of her arm, and Simon looked down at her.

"No Marcy, you can't kill him."

"Why not?" she replied indignantly. "It's just a bug."

Simon laughed, reaching a finger down to lie by the little insect, which scuttled up onto his extended ice blue digit.

"Life is always precious, no matter what it is." He said with a smile as the two watched the bug sit on his finger. "And whoever says otherwise is…"

"Is what Simon?"

The man shook his head and said solemnly.

"Well, not really human."

Marceline shrugged.

"You killed those mutant things yesterday. Weren't they precious?"

The old man sighed slightly.

"Yes, but I won't let anything hurt you ever Marcy. I always…"

His comment was interrupted by a high pitched shriek from down the street, and instantly Marceline grabbed onto him, eyes wide with fear.

"Is it one of them?" she said, her voice muffled as she buried her face into Simon's threadbare jacket.

Giving the girl a weak smile he stood up, gently carrying her over to an abandoned car and sitting her down beside it.

"Don't you worry yourself. It'll be fine. You just stay here with Hambo and don't make a sound." He said reassuringly as he turned to go.

"Wait." Marceline hissed, grabbing hold of his trouser leg. "Don't use it…"

Simon sighed.

"I have to Marcy…"

"Use the other thing." She said with a frown.

Simon closed his eyes for a second, but then heard the same shriek, evidently closer.

"I thought you hated it? You said it hurt your ears." He said as his hand left the crown's gold form and rested on the other item at his waist.

"Just do it." Marceline said firmly and surprisingly assertively for someone so young.

The old man nodded and, with shaking hands, drew the heavy black pistol from his belt. He hated the gun almost as much as Marceline did; he detested violence and the evil looking weapon seemed to personify it, and yet he had started using it more now, since the crown's effects had become more pronounced upon him.

"Stay here." He said firmly to the crouched girl, before he was lost from sight as he ran down the street.

Marceline stayed low, hugging the soft form of Hambo to her chest and closing her eyes. She could hear Simon's shoes clicking on the road beyond, and beyond that, the shuffling footsteps of whatever had made that noise before.

She was scared; there was no denying that, not just of the monster out there, but of what Simon would have done if she hadn't stopped him putting on that crown. Every time he wore that thing she seemed to lose a bit more of him, to be replaced by brief fits of insane babbling and memory loss. She didn't know how long he could go on like this, as his thick white beard, which grew every time he used the crown, began to become wilder and untamed, even after he had taken it off.

Screwing up her eyes and putting her fingers in her ears, Marceline still heard the howl of the monster, then the loud bang of Simon's gun, then again and again, before finally a strange silence.

She only opened her eyes when she felt a slight tap on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Simon standing over her, one hand reaching down for her, whilist the other held the smoking form of the pistol.

Reaching for his hand, she said softly.

"Are the monsters gone Simon?"

The old man smiled.

"For now child. For now."

* * *

A/N This is just a quick teaser from what will eventually be a new fic for me over the summer and obviously after I've finished my others. Feel free to comment, review and give ideas for my future project. Anything is appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2- Frost and Flame

Centuries later and, although the Earth had recovered from the apocalyptic nightmare humanity had subjected it to, becoming a bright tapestry of colour and life in all its forms, for one unfortunate soul, things had only got worse.

After years of resistance to the crown's corruption, the human Simon Petrikov had succumbed to its effects and become the Ice King, the mad ruler of the snowy region known as the Ice Kingdom in the land of Ooo. Now nothing more than an insane wreck of his former noble self, the Ice King spent his days kidnapping the princesses of Ooo to replace his long lost love Betty, and on this particular day the great heroes of the land, Finn the human and Jake the dog, now rushed to confront him yet again.

* * *

"Ice King!" Finn roared as he leapt through the triangular main window of the Ice Kingdom's main mountain and the lair of its ruler. "We're coming for you!"

As the bear hatted teenager drew his crimson sword his companion, Jake the yellow dog, came barrelling in after him, cushioning his fall by stretching his feet to the size of dustbin lids then moving to stand by his brother.

"Where is the old man?" he said softly, fists raised, as the two studied the large room carved into the mountain, dominated by a bed covered in tasteless quilts, a large drum kit and an empty cage for princesses.

"Wherever he is, he's gonna pay!" Finn said, gripping his sword. "Kidnapping Flame Princess is just too far man."

"Word." Jake said with a grin, before enlarging his fists to ridiculous proportions. "When we find…"

A second later and the Ice King himself wandered in, pizza box in hand, waving a blue skinned hand at the two heroes.

"Oh hey guys." He said casually. "Sorry I'm late but Gunter took forever to pick up my order…" he added as the small penguin waddled in after him with a dejected look on her face.

He never got any further as a yellow fist slammed into his forehead, knocking him to the floor and sending pizza slices ,and one wailing penguin, in all directions.

"Now just calm down there boys." The old man said with a weak grin as he picked himself back up, but found himself confronted by the angry form of Finn, sword held high.

"What have you done with Flame Princess?!"

The Ice King laughed and shrugged.

"Look man, I didn't kidnap her. What do you take me for?"

The only response from the human was an uppercut that sent the old man sprawling across the room and into the wall, sending a torrent of books from the shelves above crashing down on him.

"Get him!" Jake cheered as he leapt forward and sent a fist toward the Ice King, who dodged it and flew to the other side of the room, using his beard as a strange set of wings.

"Listen to me…" the old man began, but quickly threw up a wall of ice as Finn's crimson sword arced toward him, trapping the blade in a thick blue block. "She came here by her own…"

He ran back as Jake stretched towards him, a frightened look on his pale features as the two heroes advanced on him.

"…free will. I wanted to get to know your new girl Finn. You are my best bosom after all." He said with a grin, before a yellow fist collided with his face and sent him through the air to crash into his drum kit.

Suppressing a laugh, Jake turned to Finn, who was midway through freeing his sword from the ice block.

"Maybe he's telling the truth man?"

Finn frowned.

"Since when did FP ever want anything to do with Ice King? Besides she would probably just melt this whole place down…"

"You tell me." Jake said with a grin. "You're the guy's bosom after all…"

Finn turned to his giggling brother, but his comment was lost as a familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Just what do you think you boys are doing?!"

Instantly Finn turned red with embarrassment as he saw the elegant figure of Flame Princess, her orange hair up and flaming at the tips with a slight hint of anger, a guitar that seemed to be made of obsidian and volcanic rock in hand, glide into the room.

"This just got dramatic…" Jake said softly and took a step backwards.

"Finn, why are you beating up the Ice King?" Flame Princess said sternly, moving to stand in front of him, hands on hips, her guitar left propped up by the door.

"Errm…" the human began, but Jake quickly interrupted, trying to save his brother from a telling off at the hands of his volatile girlfriend.

"Wait so why aren't you melting the place down FP?"

Finn winced at the awkward question but the fire elemental only laughed.

"Oh well that was kind of the Ice King's doing…" and she tapped a small blue amulet pinned to her dress. "Temporary Ice Shield to stop any…accidents."

Finn felt a pang of guilt as he surveyed the trashed room around them, and the beaten and bruised form of the Ice King lying in the remains of his drum kit.

"He was helping you?" he said weakly and Flame Princess nodded slowly.

"I was helping him. He needed someone to teach him guitar and Marceline's visiting her dad in the Nightosphere so I figured I'd give it a shot!"

"Man we're jerks…" the human said with a grimace.

"You're not Finn." Flame Princess said softly. "I should have said something to you when I got his message. Look we can…"

They were interrupted by the old man lying on the floor, who picked himself up, anger flaring in his cold white eyes.

"Hey you guys!" he screeched. "You can't just trash my place like that and get away with it! I did nothing wrong this time trust me! If anything you're the villains here!"

Finn looked down at his feet in shame, noticing Jake shrink himself to the size of a pea and hide behind a well-placed ice stalagmite.

"We…" the human boy began but the Ice Kling cut him off with a raised hand.

"I'm outta here guys until you make it better. I guess Bufo and his friends will make better company than you…violators!" he said before bursting into tears.

Blubbering ridiculously, the frozen monarch grabbed Gunter and was out of the window and away in seconds.

"So are we out of here?" Jake said nonchalantly as he stretched his right leg to the window before he felt Finn's hand on his shoulder and saw the boy looking at him with sad eyes.

"No man." He said with a grim frown. "If we don't help him out, what happens to our alignment! If we're not chaotic good then we must be..." he added with a slight gasp and high pitched screech. "Chaotic neutral!"

Jake sighed. Sometimes his adopted brother could be so melodramatic.

"Hey don't I get a say in this?" Flame Princess said from next to Finn, her arms folded in annoyance.

"Of course, of course!" Jake spluttered, knowing the consequences of making her angry. "So er, I'll try and get that drum kit back up and you and Finn…put those books in order."

Rolling his eyes, the young hero wandered over to the trashed bookshelf and began piling up the old tomes and yellowing manuscripts. But, as he stacked up a first edition 'Art of Fridjitzu', for a second glancing over to Flame Princess carefully rolling up an old map, he saw a small piece of paper slide out from behind the book.

With a soft 'huh' of surprise, Finn picked it up and looked at it. On the aged paper was a single photograph, showing two humans, one a handsome young man in a smart suit and glasses with a bespectacled red headed woman holding his hand.

As a flash of recognition passed through him, Finn sighed deeply and Jake gave him a sympathetic look.

Looking on, Flame Princess turned to the yellow dog.

"What's up with him?" she said with obvious concern.

"It's about the Ice King."

"Why, what did he do to Finn?" Flame Princess replied with a flash of anger, but Jake shook his head as he continued to watch Finn studying the paper.

"A few months ago we found out the Ice King used to be a human until that crown he wears turned him into…well, whatever he is." The yellow dog explained, and watched Flame Princess' face fall.

"So Finn is…?"

"The last human there is, and probably ever will be."

Flame Princess sighed.

"Poor boy…" she said simply, but her eyes showed a deep sadness and empathy for the lonely human.

Finn himself didn't seem to have noticed the two other talking about him but, as they watched in surprise, he stood up and turned to them, a determined look in his eye and a grim smile on his face.

"The Ice King was right. We do need to make it up to him big time. And I know exactly how!" he added excitedly.

Jake and Flame Princess both looked on expectantly as the enthusiastic boy continued.

"There's one thing the Ice King's always wanted, even though he doesn't really know it. And we're going to get him it!"

"So?" Jake said expectantly.

"We're going to cure the Ice King and make him human again!"

Jake grinned.

"So what time would that make it?"

As one the three of them all shouted at once.

"Adventure Time!"


	3. Chapter 3- The Quest Begins

Half an hour later the trio had left the Ice Kingdom and were now walking across the ocean of green that made up the grasslands of Ooo, the distant form of the Tree Fort just visible in half a mile away.

Finn strode on purposefully, a wide grin on his face as he tirelessly moved forward, whilist Jake and Flame Princess lagged behind, not able to keep up as easily with the hero's fast pace.

"So what's the plan bro?" Jake said with a slight pant of fatigue. "It feels like we've been walking for hours and I'm all tired from having to reassemble the Ice King's drum kit…"

Finn laughed.

"Man you can be so lazy Jake. Why don't you just stretch us to where we're going?"

Jake snorted.

"Because I don't know…"

"The Candy Kingdom." Finn said with a grin. "Thought I told you when we set off…"

Jake and Flame Princess shrugged and the boy continued.

"Look curing the Ice King's gonna take a bit more than us beating up some monsters or dungeon crawling. We need someone with brains…" he added, to which Flame Princess raised an eyebrow.

"No I didn't mean that!" he said quickly and the princess of fire smiled. "I meant we need like a super genius!"

"So a giant nerd?" Flame Princess said with a giggle.

Finn shrugged.

"Well there's only one of those near here and she should know exactly what to do…"

They kept walking and Finn noticed Jake slowing down and giving the boy a sly wink. Finn grinned.

"So er…FP." He said, slightly more awkwardly than he'd have liked to. "You want to er…hold hands."

It was something new that Jake had taught him to try and do when he was with Flame Princess but, up until now, the adventeurer, who wasn't scared of dungeons, monsters or even the Lich, hadn't had the courage to say.

But Flame Princess only smiled.

"Won't you burn your hand off?"

Finn's grin widened as he reached inside his pack and withdrew a slightly scorched pink oven mitt.

"I'll be fine."

And so the two walked along, oven mitted hand in burning hand, for a few happy minutes, until Jake interjected a concerned tone in his voice.

"Sorry to break up the moment guys but check out that bird up there…" he said, shielding his eyes from the bright sun.

"Wait a sec." the young hero said softly as he saw the dark object above them. "That's no bird it's a…"

"Ice King!" Jake shouted and dived for cover. "He's back to get revenge!"

The frozen monarch was visible now, flying straight down towards them, grinning inanely as he plummeted downward, Gunter in his arms flapping madly.

With a blast of snow and ice he came down to earth, cushioning his fall with flurries of cold wind.

"My boys!" he shouted happily and grabbed Finn and Jake in a crushing bear hug whilst Flame Princess looked on with a bemused expression.

"Oh hey…Ice King…" Jake spluttered as the old man's icy arms crushed the yellow dog and his brother. "Would you mind…letting us go?"

Instantly they were released, gasping for air, the Ice King standing over them with a wide grin on his face, brushing stray specks of snow off his blue robe, which was covered in visible scorch marks and holes.

"So er…whatcha up to?" he said happily.

Finn rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Oh it's you…we thought you were still…"

"With your wizard buddies!" Jake interjected quickly, hoping to take advantage of the Ice King's terrible memory to save them from an angry tirade at trashing his place again.

The Ice King shrugged as they began to walk on, Gunter waddling quickly behind his master.

"I kind of forgot that last time I went there those guys tried to kill me and this time was no different… But I'm with my real buds now!" he said, putting his arms around the two adventurers, who both swapped looks of concern.

"Are you sure this guy can be cured?" Flame Princess whispered to Finn and the boy only shrugged.

"I don't know, but maybe PB has some sort of idea. I mean, if she doesn't then it's not likely to exist eh?"

By now they had reached the top of another of the grassland's low hills, and the Candy Kingdom itself was finally revealed, the sprawling city of sugar and sweets with the towering Candy Castle at its centre bright in the afternoon sun.

"The Candy Kingdom?" Ice King muttered in an uneasy tone. "I'm sure there's a law or something that I'm banished from here. Plus Princess Bubblegum will be so jealous now that I've moved on from here after that whole thing with the island lady and the Party God."

Finn sighed as the Ice King continued to babble on. This cure couldn't come soon enough.

* * *

As they came to the imposing gate, the toast drawbridge down and the pretzel portcullis up, the adventurers found themselves confronted by the squat form of Peppermint Butler, flanked by four armed banana guards, two of them hefting striped candy cane rifles.

"Oh hey Peppermint Butler, we were just…" Jake began, but the small candy man raised a hand.

"Stop right there boys, and your highness." He added, bowing slightly to Flame Princess, who blushed. "But we can't let…him in here anymore." And he pointed straight at the Ice King, who only shrugged and began to walk forward.

"Don't you worry I'll get us through." He said confidently, and walked straight towards the gate, until there was a dull bang and the ground in front of him erupted in a tiny crater and one of the banana guards lowered his smoking candy rifle with a grim frown.

"I'm sorry but you'll just have to leave the Ice King here where we can keep an eye on him." Peppermint Butler said firmly. "You are all free to enter but this man will just have to go. The princess does not wish to…"

At this point Finn turned red and, with a loud shout, silenced the small candy man mid speech.

"Cram that!" he shouted. "We need to see Princess Bubblegum about an urgent quest related to the Ice King, so unless you're going to move I'll have to move you myself!"

"Ok take it easy." The candy man said, raising his hands in a calming gesture. "I didn't er…realise it was so important. I guess because it's you…"

He had barely finished talking before the group before him were gone, Jake grabbing Finn and the Ice King and, growing to the size of an elephant, simply stepped over the wall on his slender legs, Flame Princess flying over as a small fiery comet.

As he watched the adventurers disappear into the Candy Kingdom Peppermint Butler turned to the shocked banana guards behind him and sighed.

"The princess will have my hide for this one for sure…"

* * *

The princess of the Candy Kingdom herself was sat in her lab as the adventurers sped to her, leafing through an ancient manuscript as she chatted over a small dimensional communicator with her old friend, Marceline the Vampire Queen, who was currently on a weeklong break with her demonic father in the strange world of the Nightosphere.

"Look I know it might seem bad at the moment…" she said softly to the image of Marceline on the communicator, who was sat, pale faced as always, but with a single tear tracing down her cheek, the only indicator of her current emotional state, whilst the fiery form of the Nightosphere was just visible behind her.

"It's not just bad it's terrible!" the vampire declared. "Dad just doesn't understand me. He seems to think he can do whatever he wants and I won't care."

Bubblegum nodded, trying to offer her friend some advice, but was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking heavily on the lab door, and the distinct sound of Finn the human's voice, slightly muffled through the thick chocolate door.

"Sorry Marceline but something's come up…"she said to the emotional vampire, who only shrugged. "Finns here and I think it must be important if he's smashing on my door like that…"

"Speak soon?" Marceline said softly, a slight smile crossing her pale features and revealing her small fangs.

Bubblegum nodded; glad the normally antisocial vampire was actually opening up to her for once, then ended the conversation and flipped down the communicator's lid.

Hanging up her heavy white lab coat to reveal a shimmering pink royal dress, and placing her circular glasses in a small wooden case, she went to open the door.

However, just as her hand went to the doorknob, it was slammed open and a familiar blue cloaked old man flew on.

"Ice King!" she shrieked and stepped back, her hand reaching in her dress for the small pocket taser she had whipped up in a few minutes whilst bored a few days ago.

She was about to give the grinning old man a blast of electricity before Finn leapt into the room, shielding the Ice King.

"Calm down PB, he's with us!"

Bubblegum raised an eyebrow in confusion, but withdrew her hand from her pocket.

"Ok…" she said uneasily. "So long as there's a good explanation."

Both Finn and Jake started talking at the same time, both trying to tell the same story.

"Well we were in the Ice Kingdom…" Finn began.

"And Ice King was all…" Jake added.

"But then we beat him down!"

"…of course I did most of the…"

"And so…"

Bubblegum stepped back and raised her hands.

"Ok ok, I didn't get any of that."

Then she felt a slight burning tap on her arm and saw Flame Princess, who smiled.

"Look." She began. "I was over at Ice King's, these two come in and beat him up because they thought he had kidnapped me and trashed the place. They find out we were only doing a music lesson, Ice King flies off and, while clearing up, Finn decided that we should do something nice for him to make up for it so we're off to find a way to cure him…"

"Cure the Ice King?" Bubblegum said with a confused look.

"Do you remember that winter get together we had a few months back? Jake said.

Bubblegum smiled and nodded.

"The one where we all wore silly jumpers and watched those videos of …"

At that point a flash of recognition crossed her mind.

"The Ice King as a human!" she said finally, causing the frozen monarch to look up from Gunter, who had only just walked in, frowning and babbling in his strange penguin language.

She looked over at the old man, who had returned to petting his small penguin friend, and gave a small smile of sympathy to him.

"Ok let's do it."

* * *

A few minutes later and they were in the castle library below the main hall, a dusty expanse of wooden bookshelves crammed with ancient yellowing texts and thick books.

"So what are you looking for here?" Flame Princess said with a frown from the doorway, slightly annoyed that she couldn't accompany the others through the highly flammable books and had been left to babysit the Ice King, who was currently scribbling down something in a notebook which he wouldn't let her or Gunter see, although she had seen that the cover had what looked like a female Finn and a fat brown and white cat on it.

"Well PB says she has a book that could tell us the right way to start this thing!" Jake called from across the room, stretching his yellow head across the maze of bookshelves, the princess and Finn lost behind the walls of wood and paper.

As Jake shouted something else across to the sulking Flame Princess, Bubblegum led Finn deeper into the room, every so often pausing to check a dusty shelf before sighing and moving on.

"So have you thought of anything?" Finn said as she checked what felt like the hundredth shelf and found nothing.

"Just a hunch…" she said as she carried on, brushing a lock of pink hair from her face as she blew dust off a yellowing piece of parchment. "But if I can find this book I could check my theory."

Finn sighed. This quest was more boring than he thought it would be.

But then Bubblegum gave a small gasp of surprise from up ahead and he rushed forward, instinctively reaching for his huge crimson sword before he saw the grin on her face as she reached for a heavy brown book.

For a second he felt a slight twinge of recognition at the heavy tome, but then the princess finally brought its full form out and held it in her arms,and he felt his jaw literally drop.

"That's the…"

"Yes." Bubblegum said with a smile as the young adventurer looked on in confusion. "It's not the same one but do you really think I would only have one of these?"

Finn felt his heart beat slightly faster as he looked at the book in Bubblegum's hands, and managed to say only two words in a shocked tone.

"The Enchiridion…"


	4. Chapter 4- Gems of Power

"The Enchiridion…" Finn said softly, still staring at the heavy tome before him. "But I…" he began but Bubblegum cut him off with a soft laugh.

"I've always had a copy you know…" she said with a grin as Finn began leafing through it, the pages and feel of the book all as familiar now as they had been with his own one. "Mannish Man and the Key-per had one copy; I had the other." She explained simply. "It's just, with that whole thing with the Lich a while back; I haven't really wanted to tell anyone about it in case he comes back."

Finn nodded as he kept poring over the book, finger running down each page before flipping to the next one.

"So er…what exactly are we looking for?" he said and the princess shrugged.

"Spells, potions, enchantments. Anything really…"

Finn frowned.

"You do know this books over a thousand pages long right? And I doubt FP can stand being with the Ice King for too long before she, you know, melts him…"

"You know that's not even…" Bubblegum began before sighing. "How about you look up 'human' in the index?"

Quickly flipping to the back of the hefty book, Finn started poring over the tiny lines of text in the book's index. After a minute of silent searching, the young hero was interrupted by Jake, at only two inches high, dropping onto the aged parchment and looking up at his brother.

"Anything bro?" he said with a grin and Finn tried to brush him off.

"Look man I'm trying to…" the young hero began but the yellow dog had already stretched himself across the entire double page, his grinning face in the centre, a wide smile on his face.

"If you're so into that book maybe you should look?" Finn said with a grin and the dog rolled his eyes.

"Oh alright…" he said dejectedly as his eyes turned around and looked inward.

"How's the search going?" Bubblegum said from nearby, looking up from a stack of scientific papers.

Finn was about to explain the problems of reading whilst a yellow dog was stretched across his book but was interrupted by Jake's sliding off the Enchiridion, a satisfied look on his face as he reformed into his normal shape and pointed out a passage of text.

"Human. Right there…"

Feeling a slight sense of excitement Finn looked closely and read the passage. Instantly he recoiled in disgust.

"Eeew man that's a recipe for eating humans! What were you thinking?"

Jake shrugged.

"Sorry bro. I guess after getting a taste for those soy people from Lady I've kinda got used to the whole idea of, you know, eating humans…"

Finn grimaced.

"What happened to 'man's best friend'?"

Jake shrugged and stretched himself into the shape of a rainicorn, grinning inanely.

"I guess I just like human flesh eh?" he said with a laugh and Finn couldn't help but join in.

"Alright alright just so long as you don't eat me anytime soon…"

The yellow dog stretched back into his normal form again and nodded.

"Anyway maybe it would be a good idea to get Ice King over here. Maybe he has an idea of what to…"

No sooner had the words left Jake's mouth than the frozen monarch was standing next to him, a flurry of snow marking his mad flight towards them.

"Heard my name boys!" he said with a wild grin. "Whatcha doing?" he added.

"You don't remember?" Finn said with a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. Sometimes the Ice King's ridiculously short memory really got on his nerves.

"Remember what?" the Ice King said with a slight giggle. "How much I love you guys!"

Finn saw Jake put his head in his hands at that before he turned back.

"Doesn't matter… Does the name Simon Petrikov mean anything to you, Ice King?"

The frozen monarch gave him a blank look and Finn face palmed before turning back to the Enchiridion.

"If you need me…" the Ice King began, taking off his crown and polishing the set of red jewels embedded in its gold form. Instantly Finn had a flash of inspiration and clicked his fingers.

"Ice King, can I have a look at that crown?" he said with a raised eyebrow, to which the old man only nodded and waved a hand casually.

"Sure." He said simply as he handed it over. "Can you give it back at some point soon? I think I might, you know, die, if I don't have it…" he added with a slight frown before wandering off to find Gunter.

As Finn looked over the red gems his mind thought back to when he had collected the gems of power from all the crowns of Ooo to open a portal to the multiverse. The way he saw it, if all the gems put together could do something that even Princess Bubblegum had thought impossible, maybe the power of those gems could perform this seemingly impossible task too.

"Think of anything?" Bubblegum said as she appeared from behind a stack of books, papers piled high in her arms. "Because I was thinking that maybe if I…"

"Do you remember when we used all the gems from the crowns of Ooo to open a portal into the multiverse?" Finn asked, and the princess nodded.

"Yes. Was that the time you almost got the whole world wiped out by the Lich?" she replied in a deadpan tone and Finn grinned sheepishly.

"Well I was thinking we might try and find one of these magical gems that could help the Ice King in some way…" he said, wincing slightly at how dumb he had probably made it sound, but Bubblegum nodded.

"I have seen wizards using gems to store 'magic' power before." She said thoughtfully, putting the word 'magic' in air quotation marks. Even now the princess didn't believe in magic. "Perhaps there is a gem out there that could bend the Ice King's particles back into a more recognisably human form…"

Finn nodded dumbly. This scientific talk was going way over his head.

"Problem is." Bubblegum continued with a frown. "I don't think any of us know anything about magical gems. I mean, me and Flame Princess have them as well but ours didn't make us, you know, crazy… You'll need to find a powerful wizard of some description."

"Wizard City it is then…"

"Wait." Bubblegum said as Finn turned to go, Jake reappearing behind him with the Enchiridion in hand. "Do you remember what happened last time we tried to go there? I think at least one of us has a death sentence of some description on us if we go back there."

"Are there any powerful wizards near here Princess?" Jake asked, obviously eavesdropping on the conversation as his ears were twice their normal size.

"What about Bufo?" Finn asked as Bubblegum shook her head. "He seemed to know a lot about magic when he wasn't trying to kill the Ice King."

"What if he tries it again?" the candy princess asked with a raised eyebrow, but Jake only chuckled.

"Look me and Finn can take that old toad anytime. Besides, we've got two of the most powerful elementals in the whole of Ooo with us. One fat toad ain't nothing on us…"

"Word man." Finn said with a laugh and the two fist bumped.

Bubblegum only sighed.

"Ok just be careful. And don't be too surprised if your 'magic' friend isn't any help."

Finn nodded and turned to leave.

"You know us PB. Nothing's going to stop us!"

A few hours later and the small band of adventurers were walking through the rocky expanse of brown sand and jagged grey stone that was the Bad Lands of Ooo, the mountains separating it from the even more perilous Desert of Doom just visible to the east as they trudged on.

Of all of them Finn was feeling the most tired, mainly because Jake had shrunk himself down to the size of a pea and was sat on his shoulder, whilist Ice King and Flame Princess hovered just above the baking hot desert sand. The sword on his back, and the candy rifle Peppermint Butler had loaned him for protection, were both dead weights as he kept on, swigging a quick mouthful of water as he clambered to the top of a nearby hill.

As he passed it up to Günter, who was sat on his backpack, he accidentally spilt some water onto Flame Princess hovering alongside him. She gave a slight squeal of pain and instantly Finn turned to her.

"Oh man so sorry FP!" he shrieked, not wanting to enrage the volatile fire elemental, but she only shrugged.

"Look, if I forgave you for making me fight Ice King for your own enjoyment I can forgive you for that." She said with a grin as Finn peered across the plain beyond, noticing the distinctive form of Bufo's wizarding school about half a mile away. "What are you hoping to find there?" she asked as they walked on.

"Just something. Anything really." Finn replied. "I mean, even if we can't get him back to how he was on those old tapes, least we can make him a little less mad."

"Not exactly hard to get better than that." She said sarcastically as they watched the Ice King flying overhead, doing loops and turns and trailing a flurry of water vapour, his childish laughter echoing across the desert.

It was only after another five minutes before they reached the imposing gates of Bufo's wizard school. Finn remembered the last time that him and Jake had been here, where his recklessness had almost got them all killed, before in the end saving them in turn, completely breaking whatever moral that particular adventure had had. But any thought of learning lessons from his adventures was lost as the door opened slowly and Bufo the toad stood in the doorway, the room beyond lost in shadow and his face hidden by a large hood on his red cloak.

"Yes?" he said simply, in a voice which sounded slightly deeper and more of a monotone than what Finn remembered.

"We're here to…er, ask about gems of power?" Finn said, flashing what he hoped was a convincing grin.

The toad nodded and passed a yellowed map to them from the folds of his robe.

"The Temple of Makhar." He said, pointing out a large red 'X' in the centre of the faded parchment. "There is a set of green jewels in the central chamber that are said to be able to cure any ailment."

Finn nodded and took the map, but Flame Princess lightly moved past him to stand by the fat toad.

"How come you were so quick to know what we needed? It's not like people come here often except to train for your little class. And where is everyone anyway?"

The toad shrugged, but the movement looked slightly unnatural.

"Princess Bubblegum sent me a messenger bird an hour ago." He explained. "She was most insistent that I help you after that little…misunderstanding in Wizard City."

Flame Princess frowned, trying to peer underneath the thick fabric of his hood, but his face was unreadable in the gloom and she turned away with a sigh as the others began to walk away, thanking the toad profusely.

As the band of heroes disappeared down the marble stairs and were lost from sight, Bufo turned back inside and closed the door, the vast room beyond plunged into shadow. Pulling back his hood Bufo's eyes started out, deep black with tiny green pupils and unnaturally large.

"It is done master." He said in the same monotone that had so unnerved the visitors.

As he said this hundreds of pairs of bright green eyes began appearing all through the room, glowing like torches as a massive shape uncurled itself in the centre of the pitch black room, a dark form that seemed to draw all light into it as it said, in a voice that was deep and seemed to chill the room with every breath.

"Now the foolish boy will continue his doomed quest, and then I shall overrun this world in a tide of death and darkness…." The Lich said with the faintest laugh of triumph.


End file.
